As announced in the March 2010 edition of What's New? (For Students), new grading policies went into effect at the beginning of Summer 2010. The new policies, which are also detailed in the Transcript Legend on the back of the official CGU transcript, affect students in a number of ways.

Unless absolutely necessary, avoid taking Incomplete (I) grades. If you do take an Incomplete, be sure to complete and submit outstanding work by the due date.

If you must take an Incomplete (I) grade in a course, be sure that your instructor files the appropriate grade form with the Registrar's Office so that an alternate grade will be filed. If no alternate grade is on file, the default grade at the expiration of the Incomplete term is U (Unsatisfactory).

Previous Incomplete (I) grades for which no alternate grade was available have now lapsed or will lapse to U (Unsatisfactory). Note that U grades adversely affect your Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) and may qualify you for academic probation. Students on academic probation cannot register for subsequent terms. Refer to the policy on Satisfactory Academic Progress and consult with your advisor and/or program coordinator regarding questions about your academic standing.

Except for changes from Incomplete (I) and Grade Pending (GP), grade changes are now indicated on the official transcript with the original grade and the date of the grade change.

About the W Grade. The Withdrawn (W) grade is not a punitive grade, but rather an historical event indicator. W signifies that the student withdrew from a course after the deadline date for withdrawals in the semester. The grade is not negative and does not impact a student's grade point average (GPA). When asked to explain a W grade on a transcript, students should seize the opportunity to demonstrate their skills in exercising a prudent evaluation of priorities, making judgments about competing commitments, or in communicating other compelling reasons for the withdrawal action taken.

Effective Summer 2010, Management students and courses will comply with campus regulations regarding Incomplete (I) grades. Campus policy on Incomplete grades provides a period of one year from the end of the semester in which the course is originally taken for students to submit outstanding work.

Previous to Summer 2010, Management students and courses were limited to a period of one semester for the submission of outstanding coursework on an Incomplete grade.

This change affects all new Incomplete grades. Current Incomplete grades are not automatically extended. To request additional time to complete outstanding work, students must submit a Petition for Extension of Incomplete Grade to the Registrar's Office. Please note that this petition may only be submitted while the grade on the course is Incomplete (I).

The 2010-11 Bulletin announced a change to the administration of enrollments in Transdisciplinary (T-) courses. Any student may now enroll in a T- course at any time. Unless limited by your program, you may take as many T-courses as you wish. Enrollment petitions for Masters students are no longer necessary. Doctoral students must still enroll in a T-course during their first 48 units at CGU.

On an annual basis, the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) requires institutions to remind all students in attendance of their rights under the Act. These civil rights, which ensure the privacy of your education records, are detailed on our Student Privacy (FERPA) webpage. Questions about your FERPA rights may be referred to student.records@cgu.edu or to the registrar.

Federal education and financial aid regulations require institutions to update their demographics on a regular basis. Beginning July 29, when you sign into the student portal, domestic students will be asked to update their ethnicity data for this purpose. Once you update or confirm your ethnicity, you will not be presented with the ethnicity screen on subsequent visits to your student portal during this reporting period.

Your cooperation in CGU's compliance with this government requirement is greatly appreciated.

Developed as a guide for the orientation of new students, the Student Rights and Responsibilities webpage, a link from the registrar's webpage, summarizes important information for all new and continuing students. Please review this page regularly and use it as a checklist for maintaining an informed relationship with CGU.

To make the Academic Calendar more user friendly for students, individual calendars for each semester are now posted on the Academic Calendar page. The dates for each term have been divided to specify general calendar dates, dates applicable to enrollment transactions, refund deadlines, and deadlines for those intending to graduate.

During the 2010-11 academic year, the Registrar's Office will be implementing a process for electronic submission of doctoral dissertations. The new process will reduce or eliminate the printing costs to students and expedite availability of your published dissertation. Details will be available later in the Fall semester.